JAIPUR: Days after the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its election manifesto , the ‘Gaurav Sankalp Patra’, the opposition Congress, with the hope of a resounding victory in election-bound Rajasthan, released its manifesto called the ‘Jan Ghoshna Patra’ on Thursday. Aside from a focus on farmers and youngsters, the document laid special emphasis on women and also promised to put into place a safety mechanism for the state’s journalists.
Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee president Sachin Pilot and former chief minister Ashok Gehlot jointly presented the manifesto in the party’s office. Several party insiders have indicated a tiff between the two leaders for the post of the Chief Minister.
The incumbent BJP government of Vasundhara Raje is facing the ire of farmers who have been protesting over the prices they are getting for their produce and the burden of debt on them because of rising input costs. The opposition party had played a trump card of sorts on Monday when party president Rahul Gandhi promised to waive off farmer loans in the state within 10 days of coming to power. The BJP has made the same promise in its manifesto, which it had released two days after Gandhi’s announcement.
In its manifesto, the Congress has also promised to make efforts to remove agricultural equipment and tools from under the GST as well as a pension for elderly farmers.
For women, the Congress announced free education for life. It also promised to set up Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) for women in every district of the state.
For unemployed youngsters, who are also a major factor behind the incumbency faced by Raje, the Congress announced monthly wages of R3,500 and free travel for students giving exams for jobs.
Last week, four unemployed youngsters had committed suicide reportedly fed up with the pursuit of a job. The BJP has announced monthly wages of R5,000 for unemployed youngsters. The opposition party however, was quick to dismiss the proclamation.
“For 5 years, the BJP kept calling the youth “thieves (robbers)” and “lafanga (hooligans)”. They were beaten and thousands of them were arrested for demanding jobs. Several people were denied jobs and now, if the BJP says they will give R5,000 as wages, nobody is going to believe them,” said Pilot.
“This manifesto is not just a document but a Congress commitment. Like every time, there will be a manifesto implementation committee and time-bound implementation,” he added.
In late 2017, the Raje government had brought a controversial ordinance which proposed to ban media coverage in cases of corruption by government officials. It faced a storm of criticism after which, it was pulled back. In its document, the Congress announced that it would to bring a Journalist Protection Act which would enable the freedom of the press in the state.
The party said its manifesto was created with inputs from over 2 lakh members of the public.
“When we come to power, we will make sure all of these promises are implemented. The chief secretary and the collectors will receive copies of it [the manifesto] to make sure that it becomes a part of the official implementation process,” said Gehlot .